


Closing Credits

by GalaxyAqua



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Canon Compliant, Gen, Melancholy, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 20:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7816900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyAqua/pseuds/GalaxyAqua
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You trust Hinata – you believe in him, you really do – so you push your worries to the back of your mind and let them go. He will be back. There’s so many new things you want to show him; and two days is not forever. Three might be a stretch, but you believe. </p><p>You have hope in him. He’ll probably come back tomorrow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Closing Credits

The first day he ditches, you chance it up to bad luck.

There’s been a lot of bad luck floating around recently; perhaps it is the absence of Hope’s Peak’s lucky student, perhaps not, but you don’t let it get to you. Hinata is late sometimes, and he’s allowed to forget. He’s only human. It’s okay.

You game an hour away, maybe two, then the sun sets and you head back to the dorms. No loss. You beat a new release without any distractions. You’re satisfied. Content.

You don’t sleep properly, but that’s just how you are. It’s fine.

 

* * *

 

The second day he ditches, you wonder if Hinata has gotten sick.

It’s quiet without him. He’s always thinking of something – overthinking, you’d say – but he shares these thoughts and you respond in kind. He’s insightful, albeit a little down on himself. You like it when he fills the silence though. Makes it just a little less lonely. There’s none of that today.

You don’t really feel like waiting more than an hour, so when it’s become apparent that he won’t be showing up again, you pack your things and dive under a blanket the moment you reach your bed. You turn onto your back and pull out your handheld again, staring aimlessly at the pixelated screen.

There’s no point in fretting, you think. That’s Hinata’s job. You just go on with the flow of life, and hope for the best. Surely, surely, nothing has gone wrong.

And you trust Hinata – you believe in him, you really do – so you push your worries to the back of your mind and let them go. He will be back. There’s so many new things you want to show him; and two days is not forever. Three might be a stretch, but you believe.

You have hope in him. He’ll probably come back tomorrow.

 

* * *

 

The fourth day he ditches, you start to forget what the last words he said to you were.

Something about memories, perhaps. That’s a little ironic.

You’re being dramatic, you scold yourself (all internal, always), but still. You start to wonder if he’s passed out playing too many video games. It’s happened to you, sometimes.

He should be fine. He’s a tough guy. He could go anywhere, he could do anything. You’re really concerned about nothing.

(Maybe he just doesn’t want to play Gala Omega?)

(You should have told him you had other games he could try, too.)

 

* * *

 

The fifteenth day he ditches, you wonder if he’s found new friends and forgotten to tell you. If he’s found people in the Reserve Course just like him, who will entertain his ideals and not just want to play games all the time. You know, for some, it gets a little boring. But games are all you really have.

And for what it’s worth, he seemed to like them plenty.

 

* * *

 

The eighteenth day he ditches, there’s a bit of chatter around the fountain.

You stay alert, hoping to catch the monotonous tone of voice you’ve grown so used to – but, again, nothing. To the backdrop of water softly splashing, you drag your game’s volume bar to 0 and sulk.

 

* * *

 

The twenty-first day he ditches, you don’t even think about him. Not once. It’s just like before you met Hinata Hajime; just one Nanami Chiaki in her world of games, and nothing else.

 

* * *

 

 

You know, rejection kind of _hurts_.

 

* * *

 

The twenty-seventh day he ditches, you go to the fountain and simply don’t expect him to be there.

You’re right.

 

* * *

 

The twenty-ninth day he ditches, you think you might as well give up as this point. If he’d wanted to talk, he would have by now. A month is too long to ignore someone.

A month is too long to be waiting for someone that won’t arrive.

Patience is a virtue, though, and you’ve got a lot of it. Don’t good things come to people who wait?

… you keep going, anyway. You wonder why your chest feels so tight.

 

* * *

 

The fortieth day he ditches, you’ve forgotten if you ever really saw him smile. He always had that tiny quirk of his lips – sometimes just to be polite, sometimes because of something else. But it was never _really_ a smile.

You wonder what it would be like to make Hinata laugh. You wonder how he’d feel, if you told him all about the stories you’ve gathered – about the way your classmates are getting along better now, about the way Saionji shot up at least 5 inches in the past week, about how Mioda’s music doesn’t reflect her talent at all, about the way Kuzuryuu and Pekoyama seem to be getting along like they’ve known each other for the longest time.

You want to tell him about the gaming contests, the picnics, the surprises, hugs, parties, birthdays, everything. You’ve gathered a lot of stories, a lot of EXP, in the time he’s been away.

Deep down, you wonder if Hinata would even care.

 

* * *

 

The fifty-second day he ditches, you choose to ditch, too. You set up 4 controllers and a projector, then knock on your classmates’ doors. One by one. Sonia comes, Koizumi comes, Saionji comes but complains the whole way – Souda comes and _improves_ your set-up, soon enough everyone is crammed into one space to just _play games_ but it isn’t the same.

It isn’t the same.

You feel guilty; you enjoy their company, of course you do, you enjoy making memories and having fun with other people. But you miss the first person that showed you it was worth it.

You miss Hinata Hajime.

 

* * *

 

By the seventieth day, you stop counting. You’ve been ridiculous for far too long. He’s not ditching. He’s completely abandoned you.

And yet, something in you still believes –

Still believes –

That – he’ll what? Just come back? Say he’s sorry for the trouble and start playing like nothing ever happened?

You hold back a silent sob.

“Hinata-kun,” you say to the empty air. “I said tomorrow. I said tomorrow and you never came.”

 

* * *

 

Before you can even begin to count again, it’s been six months.

You’re not –

He’s not –

Hinata isn’t coming to meet you, is he?

He’s not coming back, he’s not going to be there anymore. You should have known, you should have _figured it out yourself_. It should have been obvious. Why did you waste so much _time_?

You stand at the fountain. It’s been a while since you’ve stood here. You want a sign – any sign – that he hasn’t given up on you.

When that doesn’t work, you think about maybe confronting him directly. You’re the type to avoid conflict like the plague, but you _miss_ him, god, you just miss your friend and you don’t know where he is or why he’s gone.

You’re a little scared for him, too; he could be out there tearing himself to pieces again over being ‘talentless’ and you wouldn’t be there to console him. He could be hurting, he could be suffering, and you wouldn’t know. He could be losing HP fast, and have no healer or potions to save him.

That’s what helps you make your mind.

You stride towards the Reserve Course with purpose, ignoring all the curious glances and narrowed eyes. “ _What’s a Main Course student doing here?”_ You can hear them ask. _“She doesn’t belong here. She just wants to make us feel worse about ourselves.”_

Ignore it. You ignore it all. You’re only here for Hinata. You only want to see him – make sure he’s okay. You lean on the brick wall of the outer gate, eyes already trained on your gaming console once more. All reserve course students pass through this gate on their way out. You can’t miss him like this.

But –

Just like yesterday, the day before that, the day before that and so on: Hinata never shows up. You never catch a glimpse of him – never even hear his _name_ in passing. It’s like he’s completely vanished. It’s like nobody ever knew Hinata Hajime but you.

His memory –

You don’t want this to be your memory of him. You don’t want to remember him as the friend that _ditched,_ the friend that _deserted._ He deserves so much more than that. He was so much more than that.

But there’s nothing you can do.

You know, you really waited for the longest time. You’ve waited hours, days, weeks, months. Wishing, hoping. Wanting so badly to fix everything. Want so badly to know _why_ he left.

“I said I’d see you tomorrow.” You whisper. _Six months ago, I said tomorrow._

You exhale slowly, hands clutched tight around the console nesting in your grip. You barely notice them trembling – barely notice the uncomfortable rise of _something_ in your throat. Barely notice the urge to lose the temper you’re so good at keeping, once and for all. As if yelling _Hinata-kun_ would make him materialise out of thin air, and you’d play games together again like you did before.

As if missing him any more than you already did would make things right again.

_What did I do wrong? Why don’t you want to see me anymore?_

The buttons on your device, smoothed with use, don’t lend you any solace. You’ve been sitting outside the gates of the Reserve Course for hours. You didn’t even see him once. This was supposed to be your final chance. You don’t want to give up on him – you don’t want to give up on Hinata the way he gave up on you.

Still –  

Yukizome-sensei said he was fine. That should already be enough, shouldn’t it? If Hinata’s doing just fine, and you’re doing okay, that’s good enough.

… still. You raise your head in the direction of the school – some dedicated few reserve course students are milling about; their black-and-white uniforms blurring into a crowd of grey. None of them boast a familiar face – none of them imploring green eyes and a head of spiky hair.

With the digital tune of passing yet another stage, you sigh quietly. It’s no fun playing this game without him. You pocket the device. It’s the first time in a long while that you’re heading home without your eyes glued to the screen. You’re just not feeling it, today.

You wonder if playing Gala Omega will ever be the same, since you’ve lost all hope of your player two ever coming back. Though it doesn’t really matter now, does it?  

“Guess this is goodbye, then.” You murmur as you steadily rise to your feet, eyes glazed over. Maybe, all this time, you were the only one who cherished your friendship, in the end.

“I’m sorry,” you say as you start your long trek back. You don’t even know why you’re apologizing. He can’t hear you. Can’t reply. Can’t forgive you for whatever it was that sent him away; whatever it was that he never told you, and whatever it was that made you realise you wanted more than anything for him just to be _there_. “I’m sorry, Hinata-kun. I’m sorry.”

You were only friends for a few weeks, but it had felt like an eternity.

But when you look at it from this perspective…

_It’s not like he really considered you a friend, anyway._

And maybe you’re not okay, any more.


End file.
